ITS CULTUKE IN CALIFORNIA. 



II 



—delivered in his market at their weight 

 in nickels — and in good faith eats them is 

 probably excusable for his after prejudice 

 against California fruits. 



The reason why the lowlands are not 

 well adapted to horticulture is found in 

 the damp, cold condition of the ground. 

 To what extent this difficulty might be 

 obviated by a thorough system of under- 

 drainage, like that in vogue among East- 

 ern and Old World farmers, it is impossi- 

 ble to state. So far as I am informed, no- 

 body has tested the method; and, unfor- 

 tunately, our lowland farmers are not of 

 the class that expend any of their sub- 

 stance in experiments. 



However they may continue to offend 

 the Eastern palate with their big, taste- 

 less pears and peaches, there is no danger 

 that they will scandalize our citrus fruits. 

 Oranges, lemons and limes cannot be 

 profitably grown on the lowlands. Not 

 only is the cold soil against them, but the 

 air temperature also goes below their limit 

 of endurance. I can only give a hint at 

 the theory of atmospheric strata, which 

 accounts for the seeming anomaly of the 

 greater warmth existing in the higher 

 alitudes. Suffice it that cold air being 

 more dense than warm is heavier, and 

 hence sinks to the lowest parts of the val- 

 ley and establishes its level just as an 

 equal volume of water would do. In our 



country the cold spells are not of sufficient 

 intensity or duration to raise this sea of 

 chilled air above a certain level. As the- 

 cold currents flow down from the snow- 

 capped mountain peaks, they seek the- 

 channels of greatest depression, and the- 

 warm atmosphere of the day rises upon 

 the surface of the invisible flood. The- 

 high grounds escape this inundation; 

 hence their greater freedom from frosts.. 

 This is not a mere hypothesis, but a well- 

 established physical condition which ife. 

 demonstrated nightly through nearly the- 

 entire year. In winter it is possible to 

 find a difference of fifteen or twenty de- 

 grees between the temperature of the high 

 and low lands. In ascending from the 

 valley I have many times noted the tran- 

 sition from a colder to a warmer stratum 

 of air, and haye even taken cognizance of 

 three such strata in making the elevation, 

 of two hundred feet. In such eases the^ 

 change is as great and as sharply defined 

 as one would experience in passing from 

 a cold bath to a warm one. 



It has been truly said that a man might 

 as well try to raise oranges in Greenland 

 as in some portions of Southern California.. 

 While the object of these articles is main- 

 ly to point out the situations favorable to. 

 orange growing, it is also within their 

 province to say where oranges may not be 

 grown. The lowlands should be avoided^ 



CHAPTER VII. 



THE MIDDLE LANDS. 



The uplands, classified as the second 

 grand division of the country, constitute 

 our great body of agricultural and horti- 

 cultural lands. As regards soil, elevation, 

 water supply, and all leading character- 

 istics, these uplands are greatly diversi- 

 fied. They are, therefore, adapted to a 

 wide range of products, and, in one place 

 or another, they yield everything that is 

 grown in the country. And it is enthusi- 

 astically claimed that we have every pro- 

 duct known to the sub-tropical and tem- 

 perate zones, and some that are peculiar 



to the torrid and frigid. It was mainly 

 upon the broad expanse of these uplands, 

 that Los Angeles county produced in 1882; 

 her 1,700,000 bushels of wheat and 729,000. 

 bushels of barlej^; her fruit crop to the 

 value of $950,000, and the grapes from, 

 which were manufactured 3,100,000 gallons 

 of wine and 145,000 gallons of brandy. 



It should be understood that I include 

 in the category of uplands not only the- 

 broad plain of the Los Angeles valley, but 

 also the tributary valleys, which are main- 

 ly devoted to grahi. These lands produce 



